Digital lender Tala is set to lay off 10 percent of its Kenyan workforce as part of a global restructuring aimed at streamlining its operations. The digital lender joins a growing number of technology firms reforming their workforce structures as they expand the use of artificial intelligence. In a statement issued on Thursday, June 25, the company said the changes would involve streamlining functions and centralizing operations, reducing its global workforce. “As part of the evolution of Tala’s global operating model, we are streamlining our functions and centralizing operations to align with our strategic roadmap,” the company said in a…
Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT
Global leaders have called for a safer digital environment for children and young people, urging technology companies to strengthen protections against harmful and age-inappropriate online content. In a statement issued during the G7 summit on Wednesday, 17 June 2026, the leaders said they were committed to ensuring that digital spaces are safer for minors, defined as individuals under the age of 18. They raised concerns about the risks associated with digital platforms, including exposure to illegal or harmful content that could negatively affect the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents. The leaders recommended that recommendation systems be designed…
Family Bank Limited’s shares began trading on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday, bringing to a close a long-running listing process through listing by introduction. The lender’s formal admission to the Main Investment Market Segment of the NSE has ended the regulatory journey that began in July last year. The bank has listed 1,662,654,760 issued and fully paid-up ordinary shares with a par value of Sh1.00 each, at an introduction price of Sh18.00 per share. Family Bank raised no fresh capital through today’s debut, as listing by introduction does not involve issuing new shares. The move, however, gives existing…
TotalEnergies Kenya now powers more than half of its fuel stations using solar energy. The company’s disclosures show that 154 of its stations across Kenya were powered by solar systems as of December 2025, while it had 285 stations as of May 2026, accounting for 54 percent of its outlets. The French-owned company has rolled out this solar installation strategy to lower electricity bills, ensure a steady supply during outages, and reduce carbon emissions. “As at the end of December 2025, 154 service stations across the country were powered by solar energy,” TotalEnergies said in its end-of-year report for 2025.…
The United States should immediately stop politicizing, instrumentalizing and weaponizing trade and technological issues, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Wednesday. Lin made the remarks after the US reportedly held off on adding Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, memory chipmaker CXMT and more than 100 other companies flagged as national security risks to a trade blacklist, a move seen as an effort to avoid escalating tensions with Beijing. Beijing has always opposed Washington’s over-stretching of the concept of national security and its abuse of export control tools, such as the entity list, to maliciously suppress Chinese enterprises, Lin told a…
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has overtaken Amazon to become the world’s fifth most valuable company after a surge in its share price. Days after joining New York’s tech-focused Nasdaq stock exchange in the biggest public listing ever, its share price has risen by more than 50%. It leaves Musk’s rocket company worth about $2.78tn (£2.1tn), while Jeff Bezos’s sprawling online retail and media empire is currently worth about $2.66tn. The boom in SpaceX’s value came as it announced it was buying AI coding start-up Cursor for $60bn. SpaceX said it would take over Anysphere, Cursor’s parent company, which makes the artificial…
The United States and Iran have reached an agreement to end the Middle East war that began on February 28 and has lasted for more than 100 days. “The deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete,” U.S. President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post. U.S. and Pakistani mediators stated that the agreement will be formally signed on Friday, June 19, 2026, in Geneva, Switzerland, following a series of pre-implementation meetings. “We would like to thank the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran for their commitment to finding a diplomatic solution to…
Kenya’s economy racked in $12.7 billion in 2025 from travel and tourism despite a tough local and global economic challenges, representing 9.3% of national GDP. The sector also supported 1.8 million jobs, equivalent to 8.3% of total employment. According to a research by the Economic Impact Research (EIR), Kenya’s performance in the sector is part of a broader continental shift, with T&T outperforming the wider economy and positioning Africa among the world’s fastest-growing tourism regions in 2026. Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum in Nairobi on Monday, Gloria Guevara, WTTC President & CEO, said Africa is among the fastest-growing tourism regions…
Cashew nuts produced in African countries with diplomatic relations with China now have access to the Chinese market if they meet a unified set of inspection, quarantine and sanitary requirements, China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC) has announced. Access for the grower nations began from June 9. Africa is the world’s largest supplier of cashew nuts. Previously, only a few African countries, including Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and Gambia, had obtained quarantine access for their cashew exports to China. According to the GAC, assessments found that pest and disease risks associated with cashew production are broadly similar across Africa, allowing China to…
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) is seeking greater flexibility in supporting financially distressed banks through proposed legal changes that would allow it to extend emergency loans for longer periods and remove existing lending limits. The proposed amendments, contained in the CBK (Amendment) Bill, 2026, would strengthen the regulator’s ability to provide liquidity support to commercial and microfinance banks facing temporary financial pressure, provided their difficulties are not linked to mismanagement. Under the proposed law, the CBK would be allowed to extend emergency loans beyond the current six-month period, with facilities lasting up to 12 months and no longer at…
